Live, Love, and Hate: A Tale of Redemption
by Nueemann
Summary: *Set Post-Frostbite. Details Inside.* Dimitri is gone, Lissa is busy with Christian, Rose has nobody to turn to. Life begins to slip, until she meets somebody she never expected...  Full summary inside, makes a lot more sense.
1. Setup

**READ BEFORE COMMENTING NEGATIVELY!  
****It is about 12:30 AM (Just after midnight.) at the time of posting this. I need to be up for school at 7:30, and I don't have time to write a chapter right now, I only put this up because it was bothering me writing it and leaving it. I hope to have the first actual chapter, or at least a short Prologue up tomorrow afternoon.**

**Thanks for reading and understanding!**

**Well, here we are. My newest work, I know I have three stories to finish, but check my profile page for status on those. Also, I don't plan to update this one as much as my other one (Science Meets Magic.), this one is being started, I'll write the first chapter, then finish SMM before continuing this. Some may complain, but right now, I just want to get this started before the idea drives me insane!**

**The Premise**

**So, why exactly am I writing this?**

**Well, can you believe I want to try writing something that isn't so damn action heavy? I know, I have an idea or two kicking around that are mostly like the actual Vampire Academy novels, mostly character development with some conflict and a major action sequence somewhere in the story. I decided that I should try and pull that off, and since my other idea will get into a fair bit of action in it's second half, I guess that writing this one first will be a good test. I also wanted to try and create and develop a character that I can use in a later story or something. So, here's the story so far.**

_**First off, the story is normal up until the end of Frostbite. Dimitri left for Tasha. I know, it's been used as a set up for a lot of stories, but I have to use it here in order to give this some meaning, and that should make sense later, trust me.**_

_**The actual story starts about a year after that, around where the end of Shadow Kiss is but, you know, no attack. Rose has started to get over Dimitri, but she's having some trouble. That's mostly due to seeing Christian and Lissa all the time, but also because she's been stressed to near the limit by her teacher's constant lectures about normal Guardian behaviour, and what's expected of her. She is considering leaving, since there isn't really anything to gain by staying at the Academy, and since the lectures combined with Lissa's love life is giving her the feeling that she doesn't really have a purpose in life, since she can't marry and won't ever be able to do what she truly wants.**_

_**That is, until someone new arrives...**_


	2. LLH: One

**Well, here's the first chapter. It's REALLY short, but I hope to put up a second one tomorrow.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**Chapter One**

I sat there in class listening to Stan lecture, and everything he was saying was going in one ear and out the other.

I really had no clue why I was still at St. Vladimir's, or even why I hadn't just bothered to kill myself at that point.

I had been taught my whole life that the Royal Moroi were important to both our races, but now all I saw was a group of spoiled rich families that had as much right to live the way they did as the Strigoi themselves did. Between throwing lavish parties and never being punished for any wrongdoings they ever commited, to mistreating those labelled as "non-Royal". None of them deserved to live anymore, at least from my posistion they didn't. Even Lissa, who had been like a sister to me my whole life, couldn't notice something was seriously wrong with me. At times I wondered if she ever payed any damn attention to me even in the slightest. I had been ignoring her during lunch, staying in my room most of my spare time and not even saying anything when she spoke to me. And still, NONE of it had gotten her attention.

Well, maybe it was time for drastic measures. I started to think about what I could do, but then Stan dissmissed the class. I grabbed my books and walked out of the class and towards Dhampir housing, where I could be alone in my room for a while. Maybe I could think about things for a while, clear my head.

But then, that's when I saw him.


	3. Chapter Two

**Well, this one took longer than I thought, but I was busy with school, having two tests today, as well as the fact I started reading _1984_ by _George Orwell_, so that took up some of my spare time. This is also short, but it's just a bit of an explination chapter.**

**Also don't forget that Richelle Mead owns this wonderful series of books, not me.**

**So, without further ado, here you go!**

**Two**

It wasn't the first time I had seen him, but it was the first time I think he actually noticed me.

He was a Moroi, tall like most of them, with the same pale skin as the rest of them, but with what was unmistakeably some muscle on his upper arms and legs. It was unususal, but not massively so.

He had messy dark brown hair that reminded me of Adrian, but his eyes were, different. They were like a dark gold colour, unlike anything I had ever seen before.

He stood in a corner off to the side of the campus, what I guessed was either a clove or regular cigarette in one hand, and what looked like a cup of coffee in the other. It was unususal, because the rules were that smoking was prohibited on campus, but the teachers walking by just ignored him for the most part. This led me to believe that I might be imagining him or something.

I watched him for a few moments, observing him take a short drag from his cigarette, then look up into the cloudy sky for a second before taking a sip of whatever he was drinking. After a minute or so, he dropped the cigarette, having finished it, and looked up to see me starting at him. I looked away, slightly embarassed, but when I looked up I saw him doing the same with a small smile on his face. After another minute or two, he headed over towards guest housing.


	4. Chapter Three

**I am sorry to any of my readers, but I have been busy with school and whatnot, but I had a nice long weekend here to catch up on things...and start others.**

**I finished the game Alan Wake just about three hours ago, it's amusingly enough, about a writer who has writing problems. Creepy, huh?**

**I also got bored not having anything vampire related other than some fanfiction on here as well as re-reading the books while waiting for Last Sacrifice, so I spent the better part of Yesterday and Today watching The Vampire Diaries TV series, now I'll have to read the damn books too sometime. :)**

**Nobody should thank me for the chapter, because if it wasn't for the above-mentioned TV show, I wouldn't have had any creative spark to write this weekend.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Academy series or any associated characters, Richelle Mead does.**

**Well, enough of my ramblings, on to the chapter.**

**Chapter Three**

I arrived back at my room and just dropped my books as I headed over to sit down on my bed. I lay back and stared at the ceiling, hundreds of conflicting messages running through my mind at the same time. I really had no clue anymore what I would do with my life. With Dimitri gone and Lissa too busy to pay attention to me, I felt more alone than ever. And I truly did feel like I had absolutely nobody left to turn to. As I started to get up to grab my bag and try finishing some of my damn homework, there was a knock at my door.

I walked over and opened the door to find the guy from just a few minutes earlier standing there staring at me.

"Hi. I noticed you were looking at me earlier and I was wondering if you wanted to head off campus for a coffee or something?"

His voice wasn't too high, or too deep, it was soft and smooth, like a singer's voice is. I thought about smiling, but I frowned anyways.

"I really don't know why you would think I'm all that interested. It's not like I was checking you out or-"

He stopped me mid-scentence and smiled, "Please, Rose, I have seen that look on a lot of faces before. I know you are curious about me. You wonder who I am, why I'm here. All I am offering is a quick trip for the two of us off campus. You know you could use a break from your work. Believe me, I could too." He sighed and looked at his watch, "I kind of need to know now. My guardian is going crazy stuck on campus here and I need to know whether or not to wake him up."

I smiled for the first time in at least a week, "Why would you need to wake him up, I mean aside from the obvious reason?"

He chuckled, "Well, Gris prefers that I only wake him if I am leaving campus, otherwise I let him sleep. Again, he's going crazy around here."

I laughed, "Alright, fine. Come back when you're ready. I need a shower anyways," I sighed, "And maybe I can get some of this damn homework done."

He smiled, "Alright, I'll be back."

I shut the door as he walked away, maybe my life wasn't going to be so bad after all. I mean, I know there was no way I could have a relationship with him, but he might at least help me feel better about things. He seems nice anyways. But now I had to figure out what I was going to say to him.

Just before I could go to the bathroom and turn on the shower, my cell phone rang. I went to check it and frowned the second I read the number.

_Lissa._

**I hope you all enjoyed that! I would say to expect another chapter around next weekend, but my time estimates are NEVER right, so just asuume it'll be a while. Sorry :(**


	5. Chapter Four

**Wait, is this really another chapter already? Well, yes, it is.**

**_Read this section if you are actually interested in my thoughts, and not just the story._**

**_An interesting thought occured to me this evening. Every time I read, watch, or listen to something that teaches me a lesson about life, or makes me sit and think hard about something, or even just something that interests me extemely, it gets me writing again. It happened when I finished Alan Wake and watched The Vampire Diaries before I wrote Chapter Three, and tonight I started watching an interesting little Anime series called Kashimashi. All of this got my creativity flowing and really made me want to write. Let's hope I discover something else this week!_**

**_Special thanks to EVERYONE who reads my thoughts and doesn't just skip right to the chapter. Thanks as well to everyone who reads my stuff, you guys are great!_**

**Disclaimer: Go read it from another chapter, I'm tired.**

**Chapter Four**

I answered the phone with an irritated "Hello Lissa."

Her reply, obviously, was her usual cheery voice, "Hey Rose, I was wondering how things have been going, I thought you might be trying to avoid me."

Oh, now she noticed. Lissa had a habit recently of bothering me at the most inconveient times, and I was wondering if she actually did it on purpose.

"Oh, really? When did you notice this? Was it before or after I just stopped eating lunch with you and started spending my spare time in my room?"

Lissa's voice was not as cheery now, it sounded hurt and stunned, "Rose. I don't understand what you are saying."

"All I'm saying Lissa is that you are just stating the obvious. The evidence was there and you didn't notice. Look, I have other things to do. Please just go back to Christian for now."

I thought I heard her sob as I hung up and tossed the phone on to my bed, but it didn't really matter. All that mattered right now was that I had a shower and went out to talk with this guy, whoever he was.

I headed over to the bathroom and turned the shower on, stopping to grab some clean clothes from my dresser and a towel from the closet. I took clothes that were nice, but not fancy, just kind of average. That was what I hoped I could be tonight, an average person out for a coffee with an average guy. Maybe I could have one second of normality in my otherwise ridiculously dissapointing life.

After the incredibly great feeling shower, I got dressed and just as I grabbed my first book, somebody knocked on the door. I answered it to see the guy standing there with a rather average looking Dhampir standing behind him.

Surprisingly, it was the Dhampir that spoke first, "You ready?"

I looked, stunned, and answered, "Yea, sure. Why are you talking, and not him?"

He smiled, "Daniel prefers to let me do the talking whenever possible. His words, sort of escape him at times. Leaves him standing there staring at you." The Guardian laughed, "Sort of creepy until you get used to it."

I smiled, "I see. Well, We should be going then."

The Guardian chuckled, "Yes, before we do though, I think an introduction is in order." He extended his left hand, "Guardian Grissom Galverit"

I smiled and shook his hand, "Rosemarie Hathaway."

He looked at me, stunned, "Ah, the infamous Rose. I've heard a lot about you, most of it good."

I laughed, "That's a surprise. Most people have nothing good to say about me."

He smiled, "So you think. Quite a few of your teachers respect you to a fair extent compared to your peers. There was also another Guardian I met last year who said you were the best student he ever had." He paused and thought for a second, "Damnit, can't remember his name. Nice fellow though. Enough of my rambling though, should we move on?"

I nodded and left the room, locking the door behind me.

**And now, for something a little different. :)**

_**3rd Person View**_

Rose walked with Guardian Galverit and his charge out towards St. Vladimir's parking lot, happy to be leaving for something an average person would do. She was, however, unaware that Lissa had been on the way to see her.

Lissa had seen Rose leave the building and stood watching from a distance as she got into an older mid-sized car, black, with all the windows tinted. Lissa had no clue who this man was she was with. She had seen the Guardian before, but knew nothing of him either.

Feeling that the trip from her room had been a waste of time, she watched the car leave, and headed back.

**Well, there's another quick one for you. Thanks for reading, and be sure to review! :)**


	6. Chapter Five

**Well, here's Chapter Five. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**I appreciate all the reviews, you guys rule!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. Richelle Mead does.**

**Chapter Five**

The Moroi, "Daniel" as his Guardian had called him, had taken me to a small coffee shop in Missoula. It was during the early morning now, and there was mostly nobody there, except for two or three people on their way to early jobs. I had turned down the coffee but had accepted hot chocolate and a doughnut, realizing that if I got nothing it would look odd. We grabbed our things as the Guardian led us to a corner booth near the back.

"So, now that we are here, I assume you are wondering who I am, no doubt. Feel free to ask anything you like." He was polite, and I was pleased that he wasn't pressuring me with questions instead.

I smiled and took a drink of my hot chocolate, "Well, I suppose a name would be nice. Your Guardian called you Daniel earlier. That right?"

He smiled back, "Well, no. It's sort of a nickname Grissom uses for me. Particularly since he isn't a fan of my real name. And I prefer to hide my family connections, especially since my parents sort of disowned me a few years ago. Fucking brother and his wife."

I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, and I decided to steer the conversation elsewhere and ask about his name again later. "So, what are you doing around here? I would have thought anybody Royal that is finished of school would have been deciding on future education."

He chuckled, "Well, I am not exactly finished of school. I had completed several of my courses in my senior year, but after my brother pulled his stunt, I couldn't focus on working and the teachers sort of refused to pass me, no matter what I did. However, I did very well in one class, and my teacher couldn't deny me a passing grade."

I looked him in the eyes, "Oh really, what class was that?"

He smiled and laughed, "History. Not Moroi history, Human history."

I leaned back in my seat, "Well, that's not something I expected. But why take Human history? What good would it do?"

He sighed, "I don't really know. I have always been drawn to historical text. I feel sometimes like we are repeating many of the mistakes Humans have been making all throughout their history. But, enough of that. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

"You didn't answer my question though. Why are you here?"

His smile dissapeared, and he sighed heavily, "Well, that's a question I have been asking myself for a while now. Perhaps it's because I always sort of wanted to teach. Perhaps it's because I wanted to meet the infamous "Lissa" Dragomir and her friend, that friend being you of course. Or, perhaps, I just don't really know what I want to do with my life. I think I just wanted to waste time before I have to go back for my exams next month to pass those courses I failed. Or maybe, just maybe, it's family."

I smiled, "Family, huh? What do you have a cousin or somebody as St. Vladimir's?"

"Nephew, actually. Never really knew him. What with me hating his parents, and feeling the same agitation that he likely has."

I leaned forward in my seat, "So, how about explaining the story behind why you don't use your name? Or is it very sensitive to you?"

He sighed, "Well, you'll know the story when you hear the name."

I smiled, "Which is?"

He frowned, remained silent for a second and then spoke rapidly.

_"Damien. Damien Karl Ozera."_


	7. Chapter Six

**Well, here's another chapter, longer this time to make up for the wait!**

**I really hope you all enjoy this one, as I was writing it late at night and writing an essay for english at the same time. Not an easy task.**

**I also hope this is paced correctly, it feels to me like I rushed a few things out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does.**

**Chapter Six**

_Daimian Karl Ozera._

_So, the family tragedy had been Christian's parents._

_And the relative, nephew specifically..._

"You're Christian Ozera's uncle? I would have expected you to be older."

He smiled, "Yes, well. I was the youngest in the family. My parents didn't love me as much as Natasha or Lucas, but they helped me along in life wherever they could. But when Lucas and his wife turned. Well, they snapped. Cut off ties with me and my sister, hoping they could spare themselves any ridicule with their friends. I later found out that it only made things worse for them."

I sighed and leaned back in my seat again. It was strange knowing that Christian had an uncle, and even stranger that he was so close to Christian's age. But the most obvious question still hadn't been asked.

"How did you end up with a Guardian if you're directly related to those two?"

Instead of an answer coming from Daimien, this time it came from Grissom, "Well, I always had a bit of a problem with Moroi. You could say it's because I was often beaten and berated by my teachers for not doing very well in class, or maybe it's because my mother had died while I was young, having later found out her death was completely unnessecary. Personally, I believe I just dislike not having any real career choice in my life." Grissom cleared this throat and continued.

"Then, at the age of 25, after being assigned to a member of the Dashkov family, I was caught in a fairly large battle against a group of Strigoi. There were five of us, including me, against seven of them. We were caught in a back room of the family home with three Moroi, and they were, naturally, panicking. We warned them it wasn't helping, but they refused to listen. We made a solid plan to escape, being familiar with the house layout, and made our way out. We managed to get out to the house's front door, and led the Moroi out, but then they caught up with us. There were only two of them, but there was one Guardian trapped behind them. I started to head back, and was ordered by the eldest member of the family there to abandon the Guardian. I ignored the order, and easily killed both of the Strigoi before they did any damage. On top of this, I did the one thing that would ensure all of the Strigoi in the house died."

I gasped, "Which was?"

He smiled, "I burned it. I burned it clean to the ground, leaving nothing but ash and smoke. When we returned to the Court, I was arrested and set to be tried for distruction of property, and direliction of duty. However, fate intervened."

"What do you mean?"

He swung one leg out of the booth and pointed to his right thigh. Looking down, I saw a small leather case strapped tightly to his leg.

"What is that?"

He unclasped the case and opened it, pulling out a small vial of blood.

"I don't understand, why do you carry blood around? Is it for emergencies for him or something?"

He chuckled and returned the bottle, re clasping and locking the case, "No. That blood is special, and very hard to acquire. You see, this brings me to the other reason I was chosen to guard him. During the trial I was approached by a Guardian, a very prestigious Guardian who was once a member of the Queen's Royal Guard, but had resigned because of his growing disapproval of her policies. He offered me a deal, and a membership to something few people know exists."

I smiled, "Which is?"

"They call it, officially, and sort of unofficially since it's existence is always denied, The 2nd Royal Guardians Division, but the common nickname is the Deathwalkers."

I shrugged, "So you're part of a group of secretive Guardians with a badass nickname. I don't see any point here."

He sighed, "The nickname does not come from simply being 'badass' as you put it, it comes from those we guard. There are some Moroi walking this earth that share more common traits with their immortal cousins then most Guardians are comfortable with. They are Moroi with a very rare and unique metabolic disorder. It leaves their digestive systems completely unable to process any blood, except that of Strigoi. This blood must be ingested regularly, although can be managed down to small doses once every two days. The constant intake of highly magical blood lengthens their lifespan, gives them further strength, and makes them immune to the endorphins of another vampire, be it Strigoi or Moroi."

I looked to Daimian, then to Grissom, "Wait a minute, hold on." I pointed at Daimien, "So you're saying that he can only drink Strigoi blood?"

Grissom nodded, "Yes. The Deathwalkers are lead by the Guardian I mentioned earlier, and he has several very highly efficient methods of obtaining it. He sends it to us on a regular basis."

I sat silently for a second, taking in what I had just learned and amazed that these Moroi had existed and I never knew about it. I decided to ask one last question before checking if we could leave.

"So, why did you approach me?"

Surprisingly, Daimien answered this one, "Well. It was partly my decision, and partly Grissom's. I saw your, well, ummm.." He cleared his throat, "Physical beauty, and decided I should at least make some effort to get to know you. You also knew my nephew, so that influenced me a bit as well."

Then, as soon as he had finished, Grissom spoke, "The other part of the decision was mine. I wanted to offer you an opportunity to serve with us."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, I don't entirely understand."

He smiled, "It's understandable. What I mean is, I am offering you the chance to become a Deathwalker right out of school. Instead of being transferred into the Guardians, you will be officially, for the appearance of records anyways, be assigned to a desk job somewhere until they find you a suitable Moroi. But in actuality, you would be helping us hunt Strigoi for blood. Then, if you wish, you could settle down with a Moroi." He chuckled, "Although I'm guessing Daniel would have you assigned to him"

I smiled and blushed slightly, "I'd be honoured to serve with you." I looked over and winked at Daimien, "And to serve for you"

The three of us broke out laughing, and I was genuinely happy that once, even if it only lasted for a few brief seconds, I could relax for a few minutes and forget all my troubles with Lissa.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Well, here's the long awaited Chapter Seven. I apologize, but last week I had a few health problems that left me without the strength to write anything, but I am feeling much better and hope to get back into the swing of things with this story! I actually forgot about it for a while, but then I watched the movie _Daybreakers_ and thought "Oh right, I should write something!"**

**Also, if anybody has any questions at all they would like to ask me, feel free to leave them in your comments and I'll be sure to do my best to answer them!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Academy series, Richelle Mead does.**

**Chapter Seven**

The conversation ended shortly after we finished laughing over my comment to Daimien, and we decided we should get back to the school. It was about noon when we arrived back, and I knew I wasn't going to get enough sleep for classes the next day.

"This probably wasn't a great idea." I said, smiling.

Daimien smiled back, "Really. What makes you think that?"

I sighed, "I'm going to be really tired tomorrow for classes."

He shook his head, "Well, we can't have that. Sleep in, I'll take care of things for you."

I looked lazily over to him, "What are you going to do?"

He laughed, "Just because my family isn't really respected doesn't mean I have absolutely no say in affairs these days. I'll make up some contrived reason for you to be off campus with me."

Grissom chipped in, "And meanwhile, I'll contact my superiors and inform them of your acceptance." He sighed, "I'll have a lot of paperwork to fill out tonight."

I laughed, "Sorry to hear that, would it have been better if I said no?"

He shook his head, "Oddly enough, no. It would have been worse. Right now, I'll have to fill out several small transfer slips that need to be distributed. They'll signify that you are to be transferred to my order without exception. Essentially, it's to stop anybody at the school from objecting to you coming with us. I also have to prepare another form you'll need to fill out."

I smiled and spoke sarcastically, "Oh, joy."

He smiled and looked over at me, "Get used to it. You may have to do more paperwork later on, depending on how well your training goes."

The next few minutes passed quietly and I wondered what I would do tomorrow. I wouldn't have to attend class, and I didn't really have much to do in my room. Maybe I could just sleep through the day.

"Oh, one more thing." Grissom said, pulling the car into the school's roadway. "Make sure to get some sleep. I might need you to come with me tomorrow. You are going to need something...special before you graduate."

I could only wonder what that was, but instead of wondering, I just nodded and waited for the car to stop. As we stopped moving, Grissom exited the car, then stopped short of stepping away and leaned down and spoke to Daimien in some European language I didn't understand.

Daimien turned to me, "Rose, stay in the car. I have to deal with these two." He then stepped quickly out of the car and closed the door. I peered carefully over the seat and looked out the windshield to see Daimien talking to Alberta and Kirova.

_Well_, I thought to myself, _What is he going to say?_

After a minute or two Kirova and Alberta headed back to the school and Grissom headed back towards the car, "Come on, I'll take you back to your room."

Daimien headed towards guest housing and I followed Grissom back to the Dhampir dorms. As we reached my room, he grabbed my the handle of my door, "Listen up, I need you ready in six hours. We have to go meet somebody."

I hesitated for a second, and stuttered in my speech, "B—But, I have classes in a few hours."

He laughed, ignoring the fact others were sleeping, "Don't worry. Your headmistress isn't in a posistion to argue with me or Daimien. Now, go sleep."

I smiled and nodded, heading into my room while he left. I checked my phone and was amused to find my inbox full of text messages from Lissa, and almost all of them asking where I was, what I was doing, or that she needed to talk to me. _Sure_, I thought to myself, _now she wants to talk_. I tossed the phone back on the desk and lay down in my bed, slowly drifting to sleep with, for the first time in a while, pleasant thoughts on my mind.

**Well, whether or not you loved it or hated it, be sure to review and let me know! :)**


	9. I'm Back!

**Well everybody, I'm back. I would say I'm sorry for not writing in absolutely forever, but then this chapter would be nothing but the text "I'm really sorry" repeated over and over to a comical extent.**

**I know this chapter is short, but I've got a lot on my mind as far as school is concerned, so bear with me as I try to write more chapters.**

**Also, I'm looking for a beta reader that can assist me with this story, as well as another story I'd like to write soon. They must be able to check for grammar and punctuation errors, and preferably be able to help with plot decisions in both stories. And they are both VA related.**

**If you'd like to offer your services, just PM me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does. Honestly, who doesn't know that already?**

**Chapter Eight**

I awoke to the sound of somebody pounding on my door. Instead of yelling at them to go away, I got out of bed and answered it. I wasn't very surprised to see Grissom waiting as I opened the door.

He smiled, "Come on, get ready. We need to leave."

I shook my head, "What is with you? And what's so urgent about going to meet somebody this early in the day?"

He looked at his watch, "He is one person you are not going to want to piss off. And he's waiting in Missoula for us. We have to go, before he decides to visit us here. Because that would be bad news for everybody."

I nodded helplessly and turned went back over to my bed. I put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt while he waited outside, then I left the dorms with him.

We approached a car in the parking lot. This time it wasn't an expensive BMW, but it didn't matter very much to me.

"Come on," Grissom spoke impatiently, "If we're late then Lazerus will have us shot."

I got in the car, and as we drove off the property, I decided to ask some questions about this guy we were going to meet. I figured it would likely be a good idea to know as much as I could about him before I actually met him.

"So," I said, smiling, "What's this guy like? Humorless? Serious? Funny?"

"Trust me. The less you know for now the better."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That means he doesn't like it when a new recruit is interested in his back story. His past is shrouded in more secrecy than Area 51. Although I will say this. Don't make jokes out of everything like you usually do. He perfers it when people are serious about this stuff."

I laughed, "What is he, some kind of secret agent or something? Why would he care about his past?"

Grissom shook his head, "You really just don't learn anything, do you. He's just one of those people who perfers when people he works with don't know much about him. Plus it stops his enemies from blackmailing him, not that he couldn't just do the same back."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say he has a talent for putting people into compromising situations and making sure things go smoothly. In fact, he secretly blackmailed the last monarch and their council into approving an order that allowed his operatives to work outside the confines of Moroi law. The damned thing is so well written, that anybody who tries to have it rescinded has been forcibly removed from office, arrested and charged with treason."

"Wow, I can't believe I never heard of these people."

"That's the point. He also has a strict policy of action when it comes to assignments. His personal motto, and that of our group, is _nec temere, nec timide._ It means _Neither Rashly, Nor Timidely._ He prefers to have as few casualties as possible, both friendly and hostile. Plus it's less of a mess for him to clean up afterwords."

I sat back in the seat wondering how this guy would treat me. Would he be completely cold and uncaring? Would he show respect if I gave him the same courtesy? My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden jerk as the car was slowed down and we turned onto a small side road.

"Aren't we supposed to be in a rush?"

"Lazerus knows we're coming in here. His contacts'll call him and make sure he knows we're on the way to him when we leave. It'll calm him down a bit. I hope."

We kept going down the road and turned off to the side down a narrow forest path. Eventually, we came to a halt at a gate.

Grissom honked the horn and raised his hands over his head, "Do as I do."

I raised my hands over my head and noticed a red dot, sort of like a laser pointer, flicker through the windshield of the car and settle on Grissom's forehead, another one did the same to mine a moment later.

This was followed by the unmistakeable click of a gun cocking.

**Ooh, suspenseful!**

**Even if you are usually a silent reader, please review. The more I get, the more encouragement I have to write. Especially since I'm waiting till Monday to even consider writing anything else! (I have a history and english essay to write this weekend, cut me some slack.)**

**Also, be sure to check out the setup and character submission for my new story, _The Distress Call_, links are on my profile page!**


	10. Nine

**Well, here's chapter nine. I hope everybody enjoys it!**

**A/N: Anybody who has read my One-Shot, _Operation Endgame_, will find some references in here. If you haven't read it, I'd advise you do just to add some context.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. Richelle Mead owns all except my own characters.**

**Chapter Nine**

I sat, stunned and frightened, wondering if I had been led into a trap or something like it.

"Identify yourself!"

The voice that yelled to us was strong, loud, and authoratative. It commanded respect, and whomever was behind it clearly had some authority. In response, Grissom let out a string of rapid speaking, first in English.

"Galverit, Grissom. Knight Guardian, 2nd Royal Guardian's Division. Serial Number One, Two, Four, Seven, Six, Two, Eight, Nine."

The rest of his scentence was in an incomprehensible language I assumed was native to somewhere in Europe. Then, the two dots dissapeared and the gate opened. As we drove inside, it shut behind us, and a man in a black uniform, carrying a rifle and with a pair of night vision goggles secured over his eyes came from the trees to greet us.

"Guardian Galverit," the man spoke with a thick Russian accent as he shook Grissom's hand, "I've been wondering when you'd be here again." He turned to me, "And I assume this is you new recruit. Here on her way to meet the Commandant."

Grissom didn't smile, he remained professional, "Yes, Lieutenant. And am I to assume everything is in order?"

The Lieutenant slung his rifle over his back and raised his night vision goggles, "Yes. Come with me. We'll walk the rest of the way, and my troops will take care of your car."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Grissom hushed me, "No, no Rose. Quiet. We must respect this place. It's not often someone in your posistion gets to see it."

I obeyed his order and followed him and the soldier to a series of military looking "prefab" buildings. We headed for the largest one, which was the only one that was obviously a permenant standing structure, and entered.

The building was cool inside, and by cool, I mean it felt like being inside a walk-in freezer. We headed for a set of stairs and, instead of going to the second or third floor of the building, we made our way down about three floors to a sub-basement. This floor somehow managed to get even colder, as if the whole building was one big walk in freezer.

"Rose, you stay here with Lieutenant Volkova. I'll be right back."

I obeyed and waited for several minutes while Grissom entered what appeared to be some labs and came back a few minutes later holding a small box.

"Here. Don't open it till we're at the car."

I again obeyed and followed him back up through the stairs and out of the building, but this time we didn't head for the same car we'd driven in, instead we approached what was definitely a fancier car, although I don't know any specifics beyond it being a Mercedes-Benz.

I jumped into the passenger seat and sat down as Grissom took the driver's seat and started the engine. He pulled out to the gate and we were let through without any more scary held at gunpoint situations. As we drove along the highway, I opened the box he gave me to reveal a silver ring with what looked like a coat of arms engraved on it and painted gold, blue, green, and red.

"Grissom," I started to say, but was cut off.

"Don't say anything. Just put it on and never take it off. I'm not allowed to tell you why you can't, but trust me on this."

I nodded and slipped the ring on without saying anything else. It fit perfectly.

Now that I had it on and he was satisfied, I examined the design more closely. It had a small golden sun in the background with rays drifting down from it. In the foreground was something sort of like that ying-yang symbol that is always associated with japanese culture. It had a hollow triangle, with each side painted a different colour, and a golden crown in the center.

Noticing my interest, Grissom elaborated on the design.

"The sun is sort of there as decoration. The meaning is all in the triangle. The red side represents anger, hatred, bloodlust, all the negative emotions. The blue side represents love, compassion, friendship, all the positive ones. And the green side represents the fine line we must walk between them. The crown, however, does not represent what you think it does."

I smiled, "I assume it represents the Queen and the Monarch."

He chuckled, "Wrong. Just like all the others. Long ago, our world didn't have one monarch. It had two. Whether it be two kings, queens, or one of each. But the important thing was that one was Moroi, the other was always a Dhampir."

I shook my head, "No. That's impossible. It would be mentioned somewhere in our history books if it was."

He chuckled, "Well, this is something that the Queen would rather you didn't know. See, both of them acted as checks and balances, ensuring the decisions of the other were just, and that neither race was misrepresented. Sort of like Ancient Sparta, but with Vampires."

"So what happened."

"Well, that's the sad part. The last Dhampir King was a wise young Guardian by the name of Daniel Delios. He was well known for pushing equal rights, considering he knew that Moroi lives were precious and was capable of using brilliant strategy to keep them safe. However, a very large and organized group of Strigoi emerged and began hunting down Moroi families one by one. The King's response of course was to go after them. There were a number of battles that led to many Dhampir lives being lost, and the Strigoi were eventually thinned out to a small group. At this point, Daniel had become an even more brilliant strategist. He and another Guardian planned an attack the Strigoi couldn't survive. He reasoned that attacking during the day and burning down the home they resided in would kill them all, and make escape impossible. Lets just say things didn't work that way."

"What happened?"

"The Queen refused the plan, instead ordering a large force of Guardians to be diverted to the command of Guardian General Veresa Tarsikova. The other Guardian that had drafted the attack plan. She was ordered to attack at dawn, and clear the house room by room. However, the Queen ordered them out too early, and they arrived almost an hour and a half ahead of schedule. The Strigoi spotted them, and it wasn't a battle. It was a bloodbath. Every Guardian, almost 100 in total, were cut down. Meanwhile, 25 Strigoi lived. The General retreated, beaten and weary, back to camp. About an hour after dawn, she was told that the Queen had ordered the original plan, now claiming it to be her invention, to action in retaliation for 5 Moroi whom had been killed during the attack."

"Veresa told Daniel, and they were both furious. Then, they both dissapeared. Along with almost half of the Guardians that had been in service. All of them having refused service after learning the truth. So, the crown in that crest is our commitment and honour to them and their brave service."

"Wow. I didn't even know those sort of things happened. It's sort of odd knowing them."

Grissom laughed, "Well. Imagine my posistion. Learning what happened to all those Dhampirs along with the fact I already hate the Queen. Trust me, you aren't feeling anything."

The rest of the ride passed uneventfully, and we arrived in Missoula after what seemed like forever.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**REVIEW!**

_**Music I Was Listening to While I Wrote This**_

Alan Wake Official Soundtrack  
The Poet and The Muse  
The Writer's Dream  
Welcome to Bright Falls  
The Clicker

Pendulum - Live at Brixton Academy  
Propane Nightmares  
The Other Side  
Tarantula  
Hold Your Colour


	11. AN: I'm really sorry to everyone

**Please Read Through Entirely**

_**Well, I know I haven't posted anything in a very long time (At least 2 months.), but I really haven't been able to write or do anything in my spare time. Between school, personal issues and going through another computer switch, things have been a little hectic for me, and I really thank and apologize to any of you that've been really hopeful of new writing coming from me. I've been trying to nail down some time to write, but it just hasn't been happening. I wish there was something else I could say, but truth be told, I haven't written anything at all in a long time.**_

_**I really would like to apologize, and give you my word that I am doing everything I can to start writing again. This weekend I'll be going through my old laptop to clean a few things out and I'll sort my text documents (Mostly wirting of mine, a few other things there too.), and hopefully I can draft a new chapter for... Well, I don't know what I'll start writing first.**_

_**This is, in my opinion, the best summary of any writing I'll be doing.**_

**Science Meets Magic**

_**Okay, this one is on the top of my list since I'm so close to finishing it. I'll do my best to work on it first, but no promises. I actually have part of the next chapter for this written, but I stopped due to problems I had with the direction it took, so I decided to hold and rewrite the chapter. As you all know, that obviously never happened.**_

**Live, Love, & Hate**

_**Okay, this is second up on my to do list. I'd like to get two chapters or so of this out after the next one in SMM. I've literally been dreaming about writing this one for a few weeks, so I can guarantee it hasn't slipped my mind.**_

**The Distress Call**

_**Now, this is obviously my least far along story so far, and it'll be on hold longer than the other two. I'd like to start the other two and finish SMM before I take another crack at this. Sorry for any enthusiastic readers.**_

**Uprising**

_**Okay, for anyone else still waiting for an update here, I REALLY apologize, I got occupied with other stories. I'll update here next time I remember to.**_

_**So, as you can tell, I'll be working as diligently as I can to get going again, so don't give up hope!**_

_**~Nueemann**_


	12. Another AN: Sorry again

**Alright, so I feel like a ton of apologies are in order. I've been distracted with a number of things, but I swear that tonight I'm going to sit down and update one of my stories.**

**The main reason I'm posting this short little note is in the hope it'll push me to do this much needed update. I hope that if I can get into writing here, tonight, I can update some other stories.**

**Essentially, I'll probably be updating Live, Love, & Hate tonight, at least with some small dialogue.**

**Also, if anyone is interested in adopting any of my other stories that are on hold (Anything OTHER than The Distress Call, Science Meets Magic, and LLH), PM me and I'll see if I can arrange something. I believe I should let those stories get finished, as it pains me to have them sitting, uncompleted, and I simply can't do it myself.**

**Anyway, thanks for the patience, I hope I can continue to deliver entertainment with my writing.**

**~Nueemann**


	13. Chapter Ten

_**So this is the first thing I've written in a few months, and I don't know how good it is, so bear with me. I know I said I'd update it last night, and I did write it, but had to get some sleep and forgot to upload it. Thanks for the patience.**_

**Chapter Ten**

As we arrived in Missoula, the sun was rising slowly over the horizon **(A/N: I don't know what time it is in the story, I haven't read any of it in a while. I apologize if this is incorrect.)**, casting a bright orange glow over the buildings. We drove for a little while until we arrived at a small warehouse on the edge of town. As we pulled in, I frowned.

"This is where we're meeting your friend?", I asked skeptically.

Grissom smiled, "Two things. One, put your ring on. Two, take a look at the far end of the parking lot."

I pulled the small, unassuming box out of my pocked as I took a quick glance at the far end of the lot, then I noticed something that I shouldn't have missed. Parked against a wall that hid them from the road were five or six identical SUVs, all black paint, with tinted windows.

"Well, that's a little obvious," I commented while slipping the ring over my finger. It didn't seem to have much weight, and was cool to the touch.

He chuckeled as he stepped out of the car, "Yes, well it would be if it wasn't hidden from the road. Come on."

We walked over to a door on the side and Grissom punched in a code on a small keypad next to the door, causing the lock to beep and click open. He opened the door and walked in, waiting for me to follow. I immediately heard the door lock as I closed it.

We were in a narrow hallway, big enough for two people to walk side by side, with only dim lights along the sides to let you avoid tripping as you walked.

"This doesn't look like much," I muttered.

"As they say, things are not always as they seem."

Before I could laugh at the slightly overused saying being brought up here, we reached the end of the hallway and began to descend down as the floor lowered.

"Oh, a hidden elevator?"

"What, you thought somebody like this would meet live above ground?"

I turned to Grissom, a difficult task considering the small space I was in, "So what, this is his house?"

"One of many. He has a number of residences, all located at outposts we maintain. He hates staying in one place too long, so he shifts around a lot."

Before I could respond again, the lift stopped. As we stepped off, it began to rise back up to the surface again. This hall was identical to the one above, but with a visible door at the end of it.

This door didn't have a lock, and Grissom simply opened it, leading into a room that reminded me of one of the hallways at the royal court. It had pillars on each side, with a ceiling at least 15 feet high. On each side of the room were paintings, similar to those of the monarchs, but with some differences.

Most importantly, these were Dhampirs.

Their uniforms were also simpler, with no real crown or jewellry, just a simple sort of tunic with a crest on it, along with a cloak made of animal fur and a holster containing a silver stake inside the cloak. The only jewels on the attire were on the pendant that connected the chains holding the cloak around their kneck, which had a crest similar to the one on my ring.

It was at this point that I noticed the guards.

They were arranged similarly to the ones at court, lined along the wall, but they were dressed much differently. Instead of a simple suit or blouse, they wore equisite two piece uniforms. The bottom layer was a simple black tunic with a crest on it consisting of a shield with a pair of stakes and a crown. On top of that was a set of what looked like armor plates over the shoulders, elbows, forearms, legs, and capped with an ornate helmet along with an attached cloak made of synthetic material that was red on the back (outside) and black on the front (inside). Instead of carrying simple stakes, they held long staffs, made of what looked like forged steel painted with a stranged orange/yellow colour and capped with what looked like the top half of a silver stake.

On the other side of the hall was a large set of double doors, and above that were two paintings. One was the same as the others, but depicting a mid height, brown haired Dhampir, and under the painting was an inscription:

_Daniel Arcturus Delios: House of Arakova  
__Dhampir King  
__"Anyone can justify anything from simple murder to wanton slaughter, but it takes a true leader to justify peace."_

Next to that was another painting of a striking woman, about the same height, with firey orange/red hair and wearing a similar uniform as the king, albiet without the cloak. The inscription read:

_Veresa Lavios Tarsikova: House of Kalima  
__General of the Guardian Corps  
__"Never execute. Never assassinate. Kill in battle, or don't kill at all._

**_Alright, so this chapter isn't exactly complete, and I'll do my best to update it later today, so be looking forward to it ;)_**


	14. Chapter Eleven

_**Alright, so I'm well aware I say I'm going to do something and don't do it. More specifically, I always end up getting side tracked and don't get stuff written by the time I say I will. So here's chapter eleven. I guess I can thank Bloodlines for spurring me to get this chapter done and at least finish my ongoing stories.**_

**_I'd also like to extend a great thank you to everybody that reviews my work. It really helps to know that people are reading and enjoying it._**

**Chapter Eleven**

I was snapped out of my sort of concentrated trance by Grissom, who had to snap his fingers directly in front of my face to get my attention.

"Rose? I know you probably appreciate the artwork, but we _are_ here to meet someone."

I sighed, "I suppose. How do you go from so casual to so serious?"

He smiled, and replied with a smirk, "Years and years of practice."

I opened my mouth to speak again, but he put his finger to his mouth, "Rose, this is one of those times you don't want to speak unless spoken to."

I sighed again and nodded. He headed to the other side of the room and I followed, walking behind him through the large doors.

We were in a room of similar height, but smaller in every other way. Instead of paintings lining the walls, there were simply the same sort of guards as there had been outside. On the far end of the room, beneath a large, ornate tapestry with the same sort of royal crest on it, was a throne of sorts, sitting roughly three feet above the ground on a raised section of the floor with a few small steps spread circularly around it. The throne, however, was not what caught my attention.

The figure in it did.

It was a person adorned in what looked similar to the uniform the kings in the paintings had been wearing, but it was more modernized, and more practical.

It had a full body covering suit instead of the tunic the others had, made of a material I couldn't be sure of but had a similar look to the cloaks the guards had, with a black colouring to it. The cloak was almost identical to the guards, but instead of being fastened to a pair of shouldered armour plates, it was fastened around the neck with a chain bearing a pendant, again adorned with the same royal crest. Finally, their head was adorned with what seemed to be a custom fitted helmet with a rounded look and a single slit for eyesight that gave off a dim blue light. There was also what seemed to be a set of three slits on the bottom of the helmet, around the area the chin and mouth of the wearer would be, likely air vents.

Whomever it was, it was probably the closest thing to a king my kind had.

The figure rose and walked in my our direction, moving with long, quick strides.

"So, you must be the infamous Rosemarie Hathaway."

The voice was definitely male, with a slight static sound as if it was coming over a radio. It sounded almost generic in the sense it had almost no real accent. The three slits around the bottom also glowed red slightly as he spoke, revealing a sort of mesh embedded in them.

"I have been told a lot about you, and I must say it is nice to see you at last, in the flesh."

He extended his gloved hand out to me and I quickly took it.

"Well, glad I can make a good first impression," I replied before muttering, "Whoever the hell you are."

His grip was firm and quite strong, and he replied with a loud, playful laugh, "I presume I should introduce myself before starting conversation, shouldn't I?"

I smiled, "It probably wouldn't hurt."

"Very well. My name, let's face it, is not important. What you do need to know, is that I am the CO of the 2nd RGD. Or Death, as some would call me."

"Death? That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"

He laughed again, "I didn't choose it. Because of our nickname, Deathwalkers, our CO is informally referred to as "Death."

"So, name's not important? Trying to hide something?"

**(A/N: Imagine this guy's voice rising to a sort of anger as he says this next sort of speech. I couldn't think of a way to properly word that, so I figured an A/N would suffice.)**

He shook his head, and spoke quickly, with a low tone, "Not at all. To me, our names ties into who we are, and how we live. Things we've done throughout our lives are often tied to our names. I can assure you that in some circles, the mere utterance of my given name would have you beheaded without precedent. My past is one many people do not like to admit happened, and I am among them. However, for the purposes of history, and our continued survival, I can accept some things as necessary. For now."

Slightly shocked by the slightly dramatic speech, I couldn't really think of much to say to the man. So I simply stood silently.

"I apologize for the outburst. I've been told I have a habit of it. Now, you are here because you were given the option of joining us upon graduation. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. You'll be leaving your Academy about two weeks before your trials begin. You have about six months of school ahead of you after you leave."

"Oh great, more school," I muttered quietly.

Another laugh, "Your current schooling is mostly academic, this is almost entirely combat focused. You're going to learn things even the Queen's guard doesn't use. Still interested?"

I nodded.

"Good to know. Now, KG Grissom gave you a ring on your way here. Do not take that thing off. I can't explain why to you now, but you'll learn later."

I nodded quietly again.

"Excellent. Now, I suppose you're free to leave. I'll be seeing you in a few years time."

I nodded again as I turned and left, following Grissom just as I had when we arrived.

**_So, I'm going to try and write at least part of a chapter each night and have a chapter done each weekend. After I finish chapter twelve of this, I'm going to try and write the next chapter for Science Meets Magic. That might take a good two weeks since I've thoroughly confused myself on where the plot is going for that story._**

**_Short Version: Chapter Twleve of Live, Love, Hate coming next weekend (I seriously hope), and the next chapter of Science Meets Magic coming by the end of September._**


	15. AN: Upcoming Chapter

**Alright, I hate to even show my face here without at least an entire story finished and some milk and cookies, but I have to say this.**

**Shit happens.**

**No seriously. I'd hoped to have a number of my stories done by now. But truth is, things get in the way. Most importantly, this little thing called life. Well, it's more school than life, but whatever.**

**This by no means is a notice saying something like, _Stop checking for new chapters_ or anything along those lines. But I'd like to say my writing time avaliable is much smaller than I'd like, due to a number of things.**

**So, as for the actual reason I'm REALLY posting this, I've almost finished chapter Twelve of LLH, and I'll do my best to remember to post it tomorrow.**

**Why not today? Because I want to re-read it tomorrow, when I'm more rested and ensure it's error free. (Grammatical error free, not continuity. My stories are complicating even me now.)**

**If anyone would like to read these in advance and help me make them more straightforward, I'd appriciate it like you wouldn't believe.**

**Anyway, tomorrow, new chapter if I can remember.**

**Thanks for the support,**

**~Nueemann**


	16. Chapter Twelve

**Alright, so I know this is a day later than I said I would update it, but I got distracted last night, and life was in the way earlier. So here it is now.**

**Chapter Twelve**

Time flies.

One day, I'm a student at St. Vladimir's, training to be a normal guardian.

The next, I'm being offered a position with god knows how many strings attatched. One that will give me authority above others, authority normal guardians can only dream of.

All in the span of a few days.

I was told to simply keep going about my business, taking my classes, socializing, and that one day, when the time was right, I'd be transfered to my new home. Where exactly that was, I had no idea, nor did I know what day I was going to be leaving.

Not until now.

It was strange, the day that is. It was a Tuesday, just an average feeling day. Although I hadn't been very nice to her, Lissa and I had spent some spare time together and reconciled a bit. Not much, but a bit. At least to the degree she didn't break into tears constantly and I didn't feel like beating her for it.

I was on my way back to the dorms from fourth period when I ran into a guardian. He looked like the typical campus guardian, wearing standard clothes. He bumped into me, literally, in the courtyard as people were heading back to their dorms or to socialize somewhere. When we patted ourselves off and he left, I noticed the note he'd slipped into the collar of my jacket.

_Rose,_

_Be at the administration building at 7:30 PM sharp. Have any of your personal belongings with you.  
__Don't worry about Kirova asking questions, it's all been cleared._

_Grissom._

I went back to my dorm and began packing my things in silence. Since I was feeling rather practical, I simply packed my clothes. Checking the clock to see it was almost 7, I decided that instead of trying to pass the time, I should just lay back in bed and relax. Enjoying my few moments of freedom before I entered my new life.

Then, at about 7:20, my silence was interrupted by my cell phone ringing. Obviously, I thought as I checked it.

_Lissa._

Instead of answering it, as I would have normally, I left it to ring. At roughly 7:25, I got up and grabbed my bag, heading over to the administration building. If I took my time, I'd be there a minute or so early. Taking a deep breath of fresh air as I stepped out of the dormitory, I walked towards the admin building, slowing when I spotted the figure approaching me.

_Grissom._

He waved, and I returned a wave to him and walked towards him. He outstretched his hand and I took it.

"Rose, it's been a little while, hasn't it?"

I smiled, "I suppose. Funny, time flew for me."

He laughed a deep, amused laugh that made me smile even wider. More strangely, it made me laugh too.

Slowing, he spoke again, "Come on, we've got to head into the admin block anyway. I have to sign the papers," he sighed.

"Don't like signing paperwork?"

"No, it's just that I had to do your transfer paperwork twice already."

I frowned, "Twice?"

He held up two fingers in a V shape, "Twice. One for the council. Once for the Deathwalkers."

"Ah."

"Come on. I'd rather get moving. Got a fairly long flight ahead of us."

**Love it? Hate it? Please let me know with a review!**


	17. Chapter Thirteen

**Well, I've managed to write a chapter of this up. It's short, and most of it is travelling from one area to another for the story's sake, so not much dialogue. But whatever, it's better than nothing.**

**On a positive note, I have a very short week and long weekend this week, so I'll try to have a nice length chapter up explaining this mysterious new place.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Thirteen**

I've never really been one for plane flights. Granted, flying short trips inside the United States is not terrible.

But flying for almost nine hours?

Nobody told me where we were going, but I knew it wasn't anywhere in North America. When we'd finally left St. Vladimir's, Grissom had taken me to a waiting private jet at a nearby private airport, where we lifted off and, by my watch, we'd now been in the air for almost nine hours.

While I would've gladly talked to him the entire flight, Grissom appeared to be more interested in spending it sleeping, and he never said a word to me. There were two other guys in the passenger area with us, both guardians that looked in their mid thirties, wearing what I can only describe as...different.

While most guardians wore dress shoes at court, or more casual footwear like boots or sneakers in public, these two wore high laced combat boots, polished black in colour. While most wore jeans or the like, they were wearing black combat pants, made of some fabric I couldn't name. While many wore a jacket and t-shirt, or the like, they were wearing long sleeved sweaters with kevlar vests over them.

Their behaviour was a little different as well.

While many guardians were on a constant alert, surveying their surroundings at any given moment, these two had been talking to either each other or on phones with people on the ground most of the flight. However, every once and a while you could catch a glimpse of them looking around. So instead of not watching everything, I now realized, they were just very good at multitasking.

When we finally landed, I was exhausted, having not slept the entire flight. So Grissom told me to sleep on the car ride to our destination, since I'd need to be at least slightly rested for when I got there.

While I slept, my mind drifted to thoughts of Lissa and, for the first time in a while, Dimitri. I thought about how much I missed the two of them, mostly Dimitri, but I quickly pushed the thoughts out of my head.

"Rose, wake up."

I awoke with a start to Grissom standing outside the car with my door open, looking down and smiling at me.

"Have a good dream?"

I shook my head, "Not really, but that doesn-"

I stopped mid sentence as I stepped out of the car.

In front of me was a small collection of amazingly designed buildings, of similar design to St. Vladimir's, but with more of an artistic emphasis to them. On most sides of the property were trees, except around the road that led out of the area.

"Rose, welcome to Charigos Academy. Garrison headquarters of the Moroi Royal Guard."

**Love it? Hate it? Please review and let me know!**

**~Nueemann**


	18. Chapter Fourteen

******I'm aware that I have a habit of promising or swearing to do things and not doing them, so I'm not going to do anything like that this time. All I will say is that I finished my exams today for first semester and I had this chapter half-finished on my hard drive, so here it is.**

**I have another one written on paper that just has to be typed out and spell checked, along with another half-one written on paper that needs to be finished. Depending on how ambitious I'm feeling, I might get both done tonight or tomorrow, since I don't go back to school until Thursday.**

**If I do get the two chapters done, I'll release one tomorrow and the other next week sometime. That way things won't feel so rushed. Depending on how my next set of classes go, along with other factors, I'll get more or about the same amount of writing done. Hopefully, you'll see a bit more out of me in the coming weeks.**

**Anyways, here's Fourteen. Like it or not, review it and let me know.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

I stood, slightly blinded by the light from the sun, staring ahead at the buildings that made up the campus.

"Charigos Academy. Never heard of it," I muttered quietly under my breath.

"Don't worry," Grissom responded, sounding amused, "Most people haven't. As I said, it's the Garrison Headquarters for the Moroi Royal Guard. The Royal Guardians are the only ones that know it exists. And Guardians are the only permanent occupants."

Grissom started walking forwards at a slow pace, so I decided it'd be best to simply follow and not cause more problems.

"Maybe you should explain the whole "Royal Guardians" thing to me, since these names are getting really confusing."

"No matter how much you've studied our history, it's really confusing to keep track of. Basically, the Royal Guardians were originally assigned to all Royal Moroi. They were volunteer only. More experienced, better training, better organization. But as the numbers dropped, they were reformed and reorganized into the Queen's Guard, with one sole guarding priority."

Continuing walking, I noticed only a few people other than us moving around, not surprising considering it was daylight at the moment, but I also noticed the lack of tinted glass on most of the buildings. Usually, an academy like this, or any place Moroi lived in, had tinted or darkened glass on the windows to keep the sunlight out while they slept or moved around during daylight hours, but here there was none on any of the buildings I could see.

Eventually, Grissom led me into one of the smaller buildings on the campus, granted "small" here was a pretty relative term, and into an office. There was another Dhampir in the room, sitting behind a desk talking on a phone, and he held up a finger when we came into the room, so the two of us sat down to wait.

He looked to be in his early forties, with short brown hair, steely grey eyes, and skin that wasn't shade one would expect to see on a dhampir. He was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and just as he lowered his hand to put the phone down, I caught a glimpse of a tatoo on the inside of his right arm as he turned in his chair to face us.

"So," he spoke with a low, thickly accented voice that sounded like French, "It has been a long time Grissom." He extended his hand to Grissom, which he accepted and shook.

With a loud laugh, Grissom responded, "Yes, I suppose so. Three years roughly if I can remember correctly. Was just about the time I finished my last term here before Daniel called for leave, wasn't it?"

"Correct," he said, standing up, "I wasn't very happy to see you go. Most of us weren't. But, I suppose you're back now, aren't you."

"For a while, I suppose."

The stranger smiled and turned his head to me, "So, you must be the poor soul my friend here dragged all the way over here. I never knew we brought people this young in."

Grissom said something in a language I didn know, it sounded vaguely European, and I heard my name. Then a surprised reply from the other guy.

"Well, that explains the age then, doesn't it. Sorry, Miss Hathaway, had I known you were coming to visit, I would've organized a tour. Not that it matters, since you'll get it tomorrow during your orientation."

"Yes, well, I should probably get Rose to her room. She'll no doubt want to get settled in."

"Oh, of course. Rose, if you happen to have any questions, feel free to ask. Remember this, there is always somebody in one of the offices here. They'll be more than happy to help you most of the time."

I smiled as I left the room with Grissom and turned to ask him a question, "Who in the hell was that? Since when does somebody have a conversation without introducing themselves?"

"Trust me, you'll get to know him later. Now, come on. It'll be getting dark soon. And this place runs on a daylight schedule."

"Alright, alright. Why are you so pushy all of a sudden."

Grissom shook his head, "Trust me. You're going to want the sleep. Nobodies first day here is ever easy."

As we walked, he explained that the main dorms were in a series of underground levels beneath this building. The reasoning behind this had been lost to him at the moment, and he said he'd figure it out for me later.

As navigated through the first floor (Or rather, floor negative one, I guess), we found the room I'd been assigned and I was told again to get some sleep. Grissom left me with the key.

I opened the door to see a really nice sized room with a queen sized bed in the far left corner. In the right corner was a dresser, at the foot of which was my bag with my clothes in it. Next to that was a desk with a computer and a few drawers, which I discovered were empty.

Laying down on the bed, I was really surprised by how comfortable it was. Eventually, I begrudgingly got up to put my clothes in the dresser and got ready for bed. After a while, I realized it was fairly late, got into bed for a few seconds before drifting into sleep.


	19. Chapter Fifteen

**Alright, so this chapter was supposed to be longer, but because of it not making sense when I changed one slight detail, I had to remove a chunk of text. I'll explain why at the end of the chapter.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

I couldn't sleep.

I wasn't sure why, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing with thoughts of Lissa, Christian, Dimitri. Things I'd agreed to come here to forget about. Deciding I may as well go and do something instead of staying here doing nothing, I got out of bed and approached the door.

It was dark as I stepped out of my room, which threw me off balance since I was used to sleeping during the day and at least catching glimpses of sunlight filtering in through tinted windows. I walked slowly out into the hallway, stopped to close the door behind me, and started down the hall.

Remembering from earlier that there was always somebody in the main offices, I started heading that way, figuring that somebody would be there to give me something to do, or something to help me sleep. After a while, I finally reached the offices and opened the door.

The silence of the night air was immediately broken by a loud series of rapid clicking sounds and a sort of thumping beat which I recognized as music like one would hear in a dance club. Entering the small space and closing the door behind me, I tried to figure out which of the offices the noise was coming from.

Thinking I had found the right room, I opened the door and paused to take in the surroundings.

First, the noise had all suddenly and completely stopped when I opened the door.

Second, I could now see the source of the disturbance.

Well, sort of. There wasn't much light in the room. The main detail that I could notice was the desk in the center of the room with a very surprised looking guy sitting behind it.

He had short brown hair, skin that looked very white from where I was standing, and a small silver stud in his right ear that glinted from the light of the comptuer monitor. I guessed he was in his early 30s.

His right hand held a glass with some amber coloured liquid in it and some ice cubes. The left hand looked like it was resting on the desk.

However, there was one frightening detail.

I now noticed that this person was starting at me through a pair of _blazing red eyes._

_Well, shit..._

**So, there was supposed to be more detail of what was in the room other than just the guy sitting there, including detail about the desk and what's on it, as well as a touch more about the guy himself. Thing is, the next chapter didn't make sense this way, so I made an edit to make the room dark. But then it didn't make sense that Rose would be able to see all this detail in a dark room. so I just cut most of it. I'll add it at the start of the next chapter.**

**Review if you like it, it always keeps me motivated to know people are actually reading my work.**


	20. Need Some Help Actual Chapter Coming

**So, it's been a while since I logged into this account, and I figure I owe you all (Or at least the ones still following my story) an update.**

**I've been busy with work from school and I haven't had much of a chance to write anything, but I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I have started the next chapter, but I'm going to think things through a bit before I finish it.**

**See, a lot of my other stories ended up being very fast and didn't last very long, and while I know some people probably like that, I'd like to stretch this one out a touch more. So, I've been thinking more about how the later stages of the story are going to pan out and how to fill the time in between with something worth reading. Thing is, I'm kind of stuck.**

**So, if anybody could give me a hand with this (That is, with trying to plot out the story so I can write it a bit more easily), just PM me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I have a hectic two weeks ahead of me with some projects and my exams before I can start writing, but I wanted to get this up now.**

**Bear in mind, if you do offer your assistance, you're going to get the story spoiled for you. I'm sorry, but it's the way it'll have to be in order for me to get this done better than I have been.**

**Thanks a million.**

**~Nueemann**


	21. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**

I moved into a defensive stance in preperation for what I expected to be a bad fight for me.

The guy kept staring at me for a few seconds before, in a series of very quick motions, he put his glass down on the desk, stood, and began shouting at me in a language I didn't know. Something that sounded European.

When I stood there, bewildered looking, not responding to what I assumed was a question from him, he shouted again. This time in English.

"Who are you? What are you doing in here?"

His English carried a thick accent, and he really didn't sound like he was joking around.

"My name is Rose Hathaway. I'm new here. I was told earlier that there was always somebody in here. I figured maybe someone could give me some work, or something to help me sleep."

With a sigh, he sort of fell back into his office chair and leaned back, running a hand through his hair and scratching his head. Then, he looked at me over the monitors with a faint smile on his face, "Rose, do me a favor. Flip the lightswitch to your left there."

I turned around and hit the switch, it turned on a set of lights in the ceiling that gave off a soft glow, illuminating the room and giving me a better look at the guy in front of me and the room around him.

It appeared that the skin colour was only because of the lighting, because I could tell now it had a faint tan to it. His eyes also weren't red ringed like a Strigoi's, they were literally red coloured. He was dressed in a long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he had a large pair of headphones resting around his neck.

I surveyed the rest of the room. It was the same size as the office I'd been in earlier, with no windows. The walls were painted a dull grey colour, and nothing hung on them. Come to think of it, there was almost nothing in the room. Aside from the massive desk in the center with the computer and monitors, there was very little else of note. One chair sat on the left side, what looked like a thin layer of dust coating it. There was a mini fridge sitting on the floor just to the right side of the desk.

"Why don't you pull that chair over here and sit down. May as well have a chat while you're here."

As I brushed the dust off and dragged the chair the short distance to the desk, he finished his drink and leaned over to the fridge, " Would you like something?"

I was slightly surprised, "Uh, sure. Why not."

He opened the door and grabbed another glass out of it and sat it on the top. He pulled out a glass bottle with more amber coloured liquid in it and poured it into his glass. He looked at the bottle, then over to me, then shook his head and muttered something in what I presumed was his native language. He put the bottle back in the fridge and pulled out another one with clear liquid in it. He filled the glass about a third of the way with this then put it back. He withdrew another bottle, this one had something darker in it, and filled the glass another third of the way. He put the bottle back and pulled out two ice cubes, dropping them in the glass and handing it to me as he closed the door.

"Thanks." I looked at him with a smile as I took the glass and smelled it. It had a fruity sort of smell to it and as I took a drink, I noticed it was indeed fruit juice of some sort.

We both sat for a few minutes silently, slowly drinking what we both had. The silence started to bother me, so I began to open my mouth, but was cut off when he spoke first.

"Lukas Vaukena. My mother is German, I have no idea who my father is. I was born and raised in Sweden until I was old enough to be sent off to an Academy. I joined the Deathwalkers when I was 25 and that's about as much of my personal life as you're going to hear."

He began typing again as I decided to try and respond to what seemed like a very odd introduction from him, "And is there anything you'd like to know about me?"

"Rosemarie Hathaway, born to Janine Hathaway, currently a Guardian. Formerly a student at St. Vladimir's Academy in the United States. Friends with Vasilisa Dragomir since childhood despite no direct blood relation. No, there's nothing of interest here."

"How do you know all of that?"

"It's my job to know things. I hold the only real "desk job" here. I'm in charge of all the paperwork, so personnel files, transfer requests, supply orders. I joined to help some people that could actually use it, and to, if it's possible, meet a Moroi I could actually live with. Instead I get two reprimands and assigned this job in my first six months here."

He hung his head a little, obviously dissapointed with whatever had put him where he was now. "If you don't mind me asking-" I began.

"I don't," he interrupted, "First time it was during my advanced training, I got upset with my sparring partner and broke his arm and his nose. The head combat instructor showed her appreciation by breaking something of mine."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair again. "Do you hate her for doing it?"

He smiled and laughed, "To be honest, not at all. In fact, I would thank her for doing it if she ever spoke to me. It was only a matter of time until somebody kicked the shit out of me. I'm just happy it was her and she only broke my jaw." The smile faded from his face "Then, after I finished my training without getting killed or sent away somewhere else, I was put on patrol duty. See, this place doesn't have wards, the guard Captain prefers to do it the old fashioned way, so we run several groups of two Guardians each around the grounds that report on anything suspicious. Problem is, my partner was the same smartass I was sparring with in training. Long story short, he wasn't happy with me simply getting my jaw broken, so he tried to fight me, I broke both his legs, the Captain believed his story since I had almost no injuries, and I got sent here."

"I find that hard to believe. I mean, he seriously tried to beat you up and never got punished?"

"Well, not exactly. A week after he was posted back on duty, he went missing from his patrol. They spent four hours looking around and one team reported movement on the east side of the compound. They tracked their target down and shot at them, they collapsed. When the approached, the found out it was him. He'd taken two handgun rounds to the chest and almost died. Turns out he'd snuck off his route to take a break, and was on his way back when he got lost. He was dismissed and sent back to Court."

"I'll bet you were happy when that happend."

"Sure I was. For a while. Then I kind of wished he was still here. He probably got sent off to some post in the middle of nowhere, or stuck at a desk. And he didn't really deserve that. Take it from me, I know from fighting him. He wasn't a bad Guardian, he was just a fool sometimes and he made bad decisions."

Lukas looked at the center monitor, "Also, you'd better go and get some sleep. If you just got here, your training is probably going to start tomorrow."

I stood and set my glass on the desk, "Thanks for the drink."

He nodded and started typing as I walked to the door. I stopped in the doorway and looked back, "One more thing."

"What is it?"

"What's with the eyes? Those cannot be natural."

He shook his head, "I'm amazed you waited this long. It's usually the first thing people ask me. They're tinted contact lenses. My eyes are sensetive to light because I spend so much time in here, in the dark, staring at these things." He gestured to the monitors."

I turned to leave, ready to go and get some more sleep, but the cleared his throat, "Oh, one other thing from you, too."

I smiled, and looked at him, "What is it?" I laughed.

"Shut the lights off."

**A/N: I have the rest of the story generally plotted out and I should be able to finish by the end of the summer if I write at a steady pace. That being said, I have a habit of neglecting things for long periods of time. I thank you if you've been patient with me so far, and I thank you even more if you continue to be so.**


	22. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

I found myself standing in a fair sized room, similar to the ones we used for sparring practice back at St. Vladimirs, a few hours after I woke up and had something to eat. The Guardian who'd come to guide me around for the day, since I was new, told me to just head in and stand with the others in the line and wait for the instructor.

There were six of us, counting me, standing on a line that ran across roughly the centre of the room, along with a single guardian posted at the door. Aside from me, there were four guys and one other girl. She was standing on my left, and looked to be around the same age as me. She stood at something like 5'5 or so and had long, straight blonde hair that reminded me of Lissa's and brown eyes. Before I could pay any real attention to the guys that were standing in the line, a woman walked into the room.

She stopped to talk to the guard, and based on their facial expressions, I'd say they knew each other, or one of them was simply really good at making conversation. She looked to be in her late 30s to early 40s, and she stood at around 5'4. Her physical appearance made her stand out, to my anyways, from everybody else I'd seen since I'd arrived. Her skin, compared to mine, the guardians, or the others in the room, didn't have much of a colour or a tan to it, making it look like she didn't see much time outside during the day. Her hair, probably dyed, was as white as snow, and seemed to have a dull shine or shimmer to it.

But the most standout feature was her eyes.

They say the blue eyes of the Ozera family are impressive, but these were just something else entirely. The shade, the tint, the shine, they all drew you into staring at them.

By the time I realized she had finished her conversation, she had walked towards us and clapped her hands twice to get our attention. It appeared I wasn't the only person who'd been drawn to looking at her eyes.

"If I could have your attention for just a few moments, we can make sure everybody who's supposed to be here is, and then we can actually start." Her voice was fairly loud, her English was clear, clearer than the guy I'd talked to last night, but it had a weird accent to it. There was a hint of what sounded sort of like Russian to me, but it was overpowered by something else.

She ran her eyes over the six of us and started rhyming names off from her head.

"Logan?"

"Here." The guy at the far end of the line answered.

"Bjorn?"

"Right here." The guy second down from him.

"Alex?" The guy between the last two.

"Here, ma'am."

"Michael?"

"Yes." The other guy she hadn't called yet.

"Teresa?"

"Over here." The girl next to me.

"Alexandra?"

No response from anyone.

"Hmm, must be the one who dropped out. Rose?"

"Right here." I answered.

"Good, only one drop-out, and everybody else showed up." She started to walk slowly towards the end of the room, never really taking her eyes off of us. "My name is Michelle Covelix. I'm a Guardian Knight Major of the 2nd Royal's Division, and the head of combat instruction here at Charigos Academy. It's my job to ensure all of you meet the standards and capabilities expected of you by the division head, as well as the more senior Guardians here. Be forewarned, you will be tested by some of them. It may start as early as tomorrow, or as late as four months from now. They change it up every year."

One of the guys, Logan, I think, raised his hand.

"Ah, first question. What is it?"

He cleared his throat, "When you say we will be tested, what exactly does that mean?"

She grinned, "Glad you asked. See, our jobs entail some higher risks than those of the average Guardian, so we need to be better than them. We need to be faster, we need to be stronger, we need to be smarter. So, to that end, it's become tradition among the staff and instructors of this academy to test students. This could be as something as simple as one of them randomly challenging you to a spar in the middle of the courtyard, or a hallway, or as complex as being asked to plot out the best strategy for a major battle. Regardless of the test, you must do your best. Early on, they'll be fairly lenient, but later on, not so much so. Also, they choose their challenges based on how you're doing in your classes and how you compare to the other students, so pay attention. That answer your question?"

He sort of stared for a second, his mouth open, "Uh, yeah. I guess."

"Alright then. So, you will spend the next 30 days in this class with me. I will guide you through the basics of what to expect from your other combat classes, so learning what I teach you will prove very useful in the near future. After our classes have concluded, you will have to make a choice. Every member of the 2nd specializes in a specific form of combat, whether it be long range ballistics, close quarters hand to hand, trapping, etc. You will have to choose which of these you want to learn. You will then have two combat classes daily, your basics of advanced combat, which will be a continuation of this course, and your specialization class, likely unique to you. Any other questions?"

Nobody spoke.

"Good. Then let's begin."

**A/N: I know the periods of time between me posting things are long, and this is disappointing given those periods, but my chapters aren't really long in any of my stories, I'm just not that good at writing anything of serious length. I have another chapter and 3/4 of another written on paper, so if I get any ambition, I'll type those out and try to extend them a bit. Even if I get them done up, I'm only going to upload one a week, so if I'm lucky, I'll have another one for next Wednesday or Thursday. If nothing gets posted, something came up with school probably.**

**TL;DR: I know this is disappointing given the wait, things keep coming up. Maybe more next week.**


	23. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

**I'm hoping these chapters get longer as the story progresses, but I can't make any promises.**

**A/N:** This chapter is written in third person POV.

Lukas entered his office, closing the door with more force than usual behind him. He walked over and slumped down into his chair, raising his hands to rub the sides of his head. His usual headaches had been getting worse recently, and the stress brought on by the conversation he'd just had wasn't helping him feel any better.

He'd been worrying about the plan he'd gotten himself dragged into ever since he realized what it entailed. He figured it could go wrong in more than a dozen different ways, but he'd been assured that everything had been taking care of thusfar, and would continue to be done so as long as he did his part. The assurances didn't do much to calm him. He was not a calm, collected person by nature, and it was often a difficult task to keep himself together under stress. This was an unfortunate byproduct of his childhood, when he'd witnessed his mother being beaten by his Moroi father every time he visited. Lukas wondered why he'd even bothered, although he later found out it was because his own wife had left him and he was just looking for someone to take the anger out on.

Pain split through his head again, and his arms dropped from his head to the desk, the head soon following them. The action knocked the empty glass that had been sitting next to his keyboard to tip over and roll to the floor, cracking, but luckily not shattering. Deciding that the pain was too much for him to function, Lukas raised his head quickly, causing the pain to multiply. He reached down to the fridge next to the desk and weakly opened the door, reaching into the back for the small bottle in the back. Holding about as much fluid as a shot glass, it was filled to the brim, it's contents a strange green-red colour. It was made of glass, and had a wax-sealed cork closing the top.

He pulled the cork out and greedily swallowed what was less than a mouthful of liquid. His headache instantly subsided as the salty, slightly metallic tasting liquid flowed down his throat and reached his stomach. Breathing a sigh of relief, he slumped back in his chair as the headache quickly dulled and disappeared. The bottle dropped from his hand to the floor, where it rolled a short distance until coming to rest against the glass that had fallen earlier.

Finally able to think clearly, Lukas sat up straight and reached forward to move the computer mouse which sat on the desk in front of him. It caused the monitor to power on, bringing up his login screen. He quickly entered his password and looked for the icon he'd always dreading clicking on. He found it in the bottom corner of his desktop, it was an icon consisting simply of the symbol you'd see in an e-mail address. The text attached to the icon simply consisted of the letters "CSIM."

He double clicked it.

After loading for a second or two, a small window appeared. It had a single line entry field to type text into and two buttons underneath the field: "Cancel" and "Connect." He typed the usual address into the box and hit "Connect."

The box disappeared, and a few seconds later a simple instant messaging window appeared on the screen. The person on the other end would have received a request to start the conversation before the box would appear on Lukas' end, so he knew the recipient was there. He started the conversation, like always.

"Marie called. We may have a problem."

After a few seconds, a reply came.

_What sort of problem?_

"Enquiries are being made at the court. Enquires about Alexandra."

_What sort of 'enquiries?'_

"They're asking where she is, what she's doing, if she's safe, can they talk to her, when will she be back in the US. That sort. Marie made it clear the people asking around were very persistent and that it wasn't likely they would stop."

_Wait, people? As in plural, more than one? I thought there was only one person asking about her._

"There was only one. Was. Now there's another. She said his name sounded like it was from one of those old Soviet countries. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, somewhere around there."

_I know exactly who it is. They won't be a problem._

"Are you sure about that? Remember the trouble we almost had with the girl? This guy could be a really big problem."

_I said they won't be a problem. I told you from the beginning, I'll take care of issues like this. Trust me, by the end of the week, this guy won't be asking any more questions about her._

"What exactly, if you don't mind me asking, are you going to do?"

_Less you know the better. Let's just say, unlike the other one, he might be useful to us. I'll give you his name later, I want you to pull his records from court when you're there this weekend and give them to Erich. I'll let him know what to do with them._

"Alright, I guess I can do that."

_Good to hear. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss? I have other business to attend to._

"Yeah. Considering this guy has been snooping around court and asking questions, and I'm a senior record keeper who deals with transfers, what do I do in the off chance this guy finds me during my visit?"

_I never even considered that, but it's a possibility. Don't give him any info, tell him the last you heard she was still in the US. That should keep him busy asking around until we get things in order._

"Alright, I'll try my best with that if it happens. One other thing, though."

_What is it?_

"How much longer until we're ready to act? I'm not getting nervous or anything," that was a lie, "but I'd like to have a better sense of how close we are to actually moving."

_Not long. All we have to do is deal with our friend and get a few more people in position. When we're ready, you'll know._

"Alright. That should be good for me."

_Lukas, I'll be blunt. This plan has been in the making longer than you've been in existence. Much longer. You need to keep your head straight and focus. I know you are, in fact, nervous, and that there's not much short of serious counselling that can fix that, but read carefully. You can do this. I'll repeat that. You. Can. Do. This. You are one of the smartest men I know when it comes to technology. I mean, you're responsible for the entire security system at Charigos. You're also a very good talker, as much as you refuse to admit or accept it. Just stop, breathe, think, and do what comes to mind. If you can pull this off, you're going to have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life._

"Uh, thanks for the inspiring words, I guess. I never knew you had it in you."

_Not a problem. Just remember what I taught you, and you'll do fine._

The IM window gave him a message that the user on the other end had disconnected, so he closed the window on his computer. He knew the hardest part of his job was likely behind him, and that this would probably be the last thing he really had to do. And he was thankful for it.

Reaching down his shirt, Lukas pulled on the chain that hung lightly around his neck and lifted it out. A simple gold ring dangled at the bottom of it, it's colour and shine dulled.

He remembered Marie, who was posted at court in the US. Now, sitting here, realizing that he would get the chance to speak to her in person this weekend, made him feel as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't wanted her to go, but Viktor insisted that she do. After all, they needed someone who could get to know people, and if necessary, get information out of them.

He just wished that someone wasn't his wife.


	24. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

I flinched a little as Michelle grabbed one of the guys, Logan, I think, by the wrist and spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back before pushing him to the floor with her knee. She held him there as she turned to face us.

"Again," she began, her voice laced with frustration, "He was just as overly aggressive as the rest of you. I seriously don't know what it is with combat instructors at your academies, but they really have a lot to learn."

She released his arm and stood, allowing him to move freely. He stood slowly, rubbing his wrist with his other hand as he walked slowly towards the rest of us. That was the third person to try fighting with Michelle, as she'd said something about "wanting to know what she was working with" and asked us to spar with her. Every other fight went about the same as the one that had just finished.

"None of you would last five minutes on assignment with the Deathwalkers. You're all perfectly capable of fighting a Strigoi on the same skill level as yourselves, but right now it looks like none of you are going anywhere with us. That's not to say you're hopeless, but my first impression is not a good one."

As she continued talking, I decided then and there I really didn't like Michelle. She was rude, arrogant, and seemed to have this attitude of "I'm much better at fighting than you are so you should just shut up and listen to me," and it honestly made me kind of sick.

"First rule of fighting a Strigoi, and I'm laying this out there right now, fighting dirty will save your life. Many Strigoi, even the former Dhampirs with training and experience, are very arrogant and will try to take time in the middle of a fight to taunt you. They usually do this either out of a sense of superiority, or because they want to throw you off balance. And I'll tell you right now, it'd work with ALL of you."

Okay, now this was a little confusing. Was she saying she _wanted_ us to fight dirty with her?

"I'm not going easy on any of you because you have to understand what the real world is like, and me taking you by the hand and showing you how to punch, kick, and block will do you no good. You have to learn to identify your opponent's weaknesses and play to them very quickly. It's this sort of thinking that will keep you alive."

I thought about what she was saying. It all made sense, in theory. She was probably right about Strigoi thinking they can get away with standing still to taunt people in the middle of a fight, even one they aren't winning. But at the same time, I was still finding the idea of doing anything dirty in a fight with her or anybody else here.

"Rose," she said quickly with a small shake of her head, "You may as well come over here and get your turn over with."

I started to slowly walk towards her, carefully eyeing the emotions on her face. She wore one of those faces Guardians do a lot, the one that shows no emotion.

"As I'm sure none of you have been told," she said, a small smile playing on her lips, "I have read all of your records from your previous academies individually, and I'm aware of your histories in all of your classes, as well as your disciplinary histories. And frankly, Rose, I'm surprised someone could get in as much trouble as you at such a young age."

Okay, now I knew she was referring to my stunt with Lissa, and despite the fact I hadn't spoken to her in a while and I wasn't exactly on friendly terms with her, I was not going to stand there and listen to this woman speak ill of me or Lissa.

So as soon as I was in range, with her talking away, I swung and hit her square in the left side of her head.

There was a gasp from the other students and she turned her head very slightly before taking a large swing back at me. I managed to dodge it before making a swing out with my left hand, hitting her in the right arm. She flinched slightly before taking another swing with her left arm, and as soon as I sidestepped to the right to dodge it, I realized she'd moved her left leg forwards into my path, and I tripped straight over it.

She came down on top of me and pinned me down with my back on the floor, her right arm over my throat.

"Rose, would you care to explain why, exactly, you did that?"

I spoke, confused by the question, "What?"

"I said," she repeated, "would you care to explain why, exactly, you did that?"

I replied, still confused, "Did what?"

"Why did you swing at me while I was talking to the class? Why, exactly, did you swing at me while I wasn't looking."

I smirked, "Because that's how you told us to fight!"

She removed her arm and stood straight up, looking down at me with the same emotionless face as before, a small red mark on her cheek where my fist had made contact. After a moment, she began to clap.

"Bravo, Rose."

I stared up at her, even more confused than before, "What?!"

"I said," she began, reaching down to grab my hand and pull me up, "Bravo, Rose."

"Bravo," I asked, "Bravo for what? For giving you a mark on your face?"

"For listening to what I said and learning from it. And, a little more importantly, for clearly using your instincts."

I didn't say anything this time, I just stared at her, bewildered.

"When I said I had no idea what to expect of you, it was because I knew you were a decent fighter, but one with a bit of a temper. So, I wanted to see how you'd handle some provocation. And, as I expected, you didn't react very positively to it. Granted, I didn't expect you to take a swing the way you did, but you did get angry like I expected."

She shifted to look past me to the others, "When a Strigoi tries to make you angry, use it to your advantage. Emotions, especially anger, can give you a great amount of strength. If you use this carefully, without allowing it to cloud your judgement, it can give you just enough speed and physical strength to thrust a stake into the Strigoi's heart, hopefully while they're still taunting you." She made a motion as if she was thrusting a stake into her own heart while she finished the point, just to drive it home.

"I've been at this a long time, and I'll tell you right now that this will be a core principle that you will all have to learn to succeed. Use your emotions. Don't ignore them, don't shut them out, but don't become overwhelmed by them. If you can practice and master that, your fighting skill will follow it. Now, I think that will do for our session today, I can spar with those who didn't get the chance tomorrow. For those of you with another class next, good luck. For the others, enjoy your day. Dismissed."

I started heading towards the door, following the others out and trying to remember what class I had next, when I almost walked straight into someone coming into the room.

"Sorry." I apologized for almost hitting them.

I stood for a moment, waiting for a reply from them, but he didn't say anything. I was sort of looking half straight ahead and half at the floor, entirely away from them, but I could feel them standing just in front of and to the right of me. After a few seconds, I looked up slightly to see it was a guy, who stood about 5'7", with short trimmed hair that almost matched the colour of my own. His eyes were a dark green, and he was just looking at me, as if he was waiting for me to say something.

Before I could say anything, however, he finally spoke.

"It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention," he spoke rapidly, with a low, deep voice that had a strange sort of accent to it, not something I was used to hearing, "Lost in thought," he added before stepping past me and into the room, closing the door behind him.

I thought briefly for a moment about the encounter before writing it off as nothing to worry about before heading off to my next class.

**Alright, so I've had this chapter written for a few days now, but it took me a while to be able to come back and read through it to double check for errors, some of which I may have ended up missing anyways, which delayed the post longer than I'd have liked. If anybody knows a good beta reader, or if they are one themselves, let me know. I'd really appreciate it.**


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